City have the most expensive squad ever

Even the €222 million Neymar signing could not take Paris Saint-Germain above the Premier League leaders as history’s most expensive team.

Manchester City boast the most expensive squad in football history after spending €878 million in the transfer market, according to new figures.

A study by the CIES Football Observatory shows Pep Guardiola’s Premier League leaders have spent more than any other team in Europe’s big five leagues, having made Aymeric Laporte their latest signing for a reported club-record fee of €65m in January.

City’s investment eclipses that of Paris Saint-Germain, whose squad cost €805m, more than a quarter of which was spent on the world-record €222m deal to sign Neymar from Barcelona.

Manchester United are third in the list of the top 98 on €747m, ahead of Barcelona (€725m), Chelsea (€592m) and Real Madrid (€497m).

There are six other clubs from the Premier League in the top 20, including Liverpool (€461m), Arsenal (€403m), Everton (€365m), Tottenham (€358m), Southampton (€229m) and Crystal Palace (€225m).

Indeed, spending in England’s top flight averages out at a record €291m, well ahead of LaLiga (€131m), Serie A (€124m), the Bundesliga (€113m) and Ligue 1 (€97m).